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Nor'easter blown away by all that hot air

Well, our TV meteorologists managed to whip us up into another winter frenzy with ominous predictions of heavy, wind-whipped snow with freezing temperatures.

For days before last week's Thursday-Friday snowstorm, we were inundated with predictions of a massive, two-pronged nor'easter.

The relentless weather drumbeat seemingly had the desired effect: Most area school systems opted to extend their Christmas vacation rather than subject their students to a few fluffy snowflakes on Thursday. That, of course, made it all the easier to keep schools closed on Friday, when the full brunt of the "New Year's Nor'easter" would be felt.

Gov. Deval Patrick gave state workers an early release on Thursday and urged private employers to do the same.

The governor then made a state-of-emergency TV appearance on the Thursday 6 p.m. news, droning on forever about how to cope with the dire conditions ahead. At least he gave State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan a few minutes to offer some common-sense advice about the use of heating devices in the cold weather.

And we had the usual crew of news correspondents watching motorists making their way on Route 128, or dodging the ocean spray at their favorite high-tide locations.

But try as they might, the weather heralds of gloom and doom failed to deliver again.

Most of us in the Merrimack and Nashoba valleys, with a few exceptions, woke up Friday morning to no more than 6-8 inches of fluffy white snow.

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There were reports of higher totals, but they were in communities much closer to the coast.

The only weather wild card was the frigid temperatures -- which our forecasters actually got right -- that caused whatever meager moisture contained in the atmosphere to churn out the little snow we received.

In essence, the major nor'easter never materialized. The storm basically went out to sea and never delivered its powerful punch.

And what if it had? We do live in New England, and it is winter. Snowstorms aren't the second coming of the apocalypse, and we've lived through enough of them to take whatever comes in stride.

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